Past methods and apparatuses for cleaning surfaces such as carpets have primarily relied upon the technique of applying a cleaning fluid to the carpet and then scrubbing the carpet with mechanical devices such as brushes. In this general technique, the cleaning fluid can be applied directly to the carpet as in the case of U.S. Pat. No. 1,821,715 to Kuchinsky, issued Sept., 1931, or can be applied indirectly to the carpet by having the fluid flow through the scrubbing brushes onto the carpet as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,168,692 to Videl, issued Aug. 8, 1939, 1,176,990 to Scherff, issued Mar. 28, 1916, and 3,189,930 to Tuthill, Jr., issued June 22, 1965. A variation of the technique is to apply the cleaning fluid to the carpet both directly and through the brushes as done in U.S. Pat. No. 2,250,177 to Boccasile, issued July 22, 1941. Another variation is to apply the cleaning fluid directly to the carpet through a rotating, hollow scrubbing member as illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 1,498,255 to Winchester, issued June 17, 1924. The cleaning fluid in such devices is usually fed under low pressure of about 30 to 50 pounds per square inch or by gravity and the actual loosening of the soiling material in or on the carpet is done by the mechanical scrubbing device. Apparatuses that use mechanical scrubbing devices are often bulky and heavy, making them difficult to maneuver and causing them to leave the carpet fibers in a depressed condition. Further, these cleaners have a tendency to rub the soiling material or dirt into the base of the fibers of the carpet rather than remove it from the fibers. The scrubbers in such cleaners generally agitate the carpet and cleaning fluid to create a foam. During this shampooing operation, soiling material in the rug settles down in the piles of the carpet and little of it is removed. After a carpet has been shampooed several times, it reaches a state in which the build-up of residue left from the shampoo itself and the soiling material is so great that shampooing is no longer effective. Further, such cleaners tend to produce a grinding effect in which the fibers of the carpet are pressed against dirt particles and are actually ground up.
Another technique for cleaning carpets is to apply jets or streams of cleaning fluid to the carpet and then remove the cleaning fluid and soiling material from the carpet through a vacuum nozzle. The force of the fluid jet or stream impinging on the carpet loosens the soiling material or dirt. A significant advantage of a cleaner of this type which utilizes a jet of cleaning fluid and a vacuum nozzle is that it removes the soiling material from the carpet rather than merely moving the soiling material down within the piles as happens in shampooing cleaners. Examples of this general technique are U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,262 to Anthony, issued Nov. 27, 1973, 3,614,797 to Jones issued Oct. 26, 1971; 3,431,582 to Grave issued Mar. 11, 1969: 3,605,169 to Howerin issued Sept. 20, 1971, and 3,619,849 to Jones issued Nov. 16, 1971, which supply fluid under pressure to fixed nozzles. U.S. Pat. No. 2,660,744 to Cockrell, issued Dec. 1, 1953, supplies water under pressure to rotatably mounted nozzles which are rotated about a fixed axis by the reaction force of the jets or streams issuing from the nozzles. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,003,216 to Nadig issued May 28, 1935 and 2,223,963 to Nadig issued Dec. 3, 1940 use a rotary distributor to draw liquid from a source under ambient pressure and to impel the liquid onto the surface to be cleaned. U.S. Pat. No. 3,624,668 to Krause issued Nov. 30, 1971, applies cleaning fluid through moving nozzles directed vertically downward toward the carpet. Krause rotates his vacuum pick up with his cleaning fluid applicators and immediately vacuums the carpet after the cleaning fluid is applied.